U.S. Army General George Marshall arrives in Shanghai, China. A C-54 plane taxis on Kiangwan Airport. Troops lined up in the foreground. Spectators present and MPs (Military Police) hold them back. Generals Marshall and Albert Coady Wedemeyer review guard of honor. General Marshall is introduced to various Chinese officers including Minister of War General Ho Yin-Chin, Mayor of Shanghai General Chien Ta-Chun. Chinese troops are served coffee and dough nuts by the Red Cross. Chinese troops eat. A file of Chinese troops marches off. Reception of General Marshall in Shanghai shows a motorcade through cheering crowds and views of the crowd lining up the streets.

Arrival of General Chiang Kai-Shek in Shanghai after nine years. General Chiang Kai-Shek disembarks the plane greeted by American Commander in China, General Widemire. Large crowd surrounds the official car. Massed crowd at race track for victory rally. General Chiang Kai-Shek and Madam Chiang walk up steps of the platform. Crowd cheers lined up in the background. Chinese official speak on mike. Crowd cheers as Chiang Kai-Shek waves his hand.

Sign over American Embassy in China. Colonel William Mayer, former military attache in that embassy relates events precipitating Second Sino-Japanese war. Scenes of the Marco Polo bridge near Peking, on night of July 7, 1937, as Japanese artillery bombards the area. Animated map shows movement of Japanese forces out of Manchuria to occupy Peiping and Tientsin. Victorious Japanese troops stand atop a building, raising their flags and shouting cries of victory. Japanese army officers sit around a table smiling and contended and others walk in a group. Chinese artillery crews are seen retaliating as they fire field pieces at Japanese positions in Shanghai. Shells explode in background, and Chinese infantry advance through damaged buildings and rubble. Animated map shows Shanghai and other cities, and film transitions to view of the bustling city of Shanghai on the Yangtze River. In the seaport, large ocean liners and freighters, as well as tug boats and Junks, are seen. What looks like a Japanese Tachikawa Ki.54 Type 1 transport plane takes off over a Chinese pagoda. Double-decker buses travel through the streets. Rickshaws are also seen. Map outlines the foreign residential areas of the French Concession and the International Settlement. American, British and Japanese flags are shown in the International Settlement. Detachments of troops from Japan, Britain, France, and United States Marines are seen. A U.S. Marine is posted as a sentry at the Shanghai Power Company. Coolies carry heavy bucket on a long pole. British, French and Japanese troops also performed sentry duties. Japanese troops and armored cars are seen. A scuffle breaks out in August, 1937, and Japanese soldiers start moving in trucks, take up firing positions, and begin firing guns from their armored cars. Map shows Chinese counterattack pushing the Japanese contingent toward the Khangpoo River. Next it shows Japanese warships and reinforcements in the Yangtze River and their advance toward Woosung and Shanghai. Views of Japanese warships bombarding the shore and large explosions from their striking shells. Beachhead is shown South of Shanghai, where two divisions of Japanese infantry are seen arriving in landing craft. They advance across the fields toward Shanghai. Map shows Chinese withdrawals to West and South, toward Nanking and Hangchow. Chinese medics along with infantry march in retreat. Japanese pilots are seen being briefed. Next, Japanese Mitsubishi G3M bombers are seen in flight, and bombardiers and other crew in them. Bombs falling on the city. Civilians running for cover as bombs explode. Aichi D3A1 aircraft dropping bombs. The Shanghai waterfront being bombed and civilians running.

The Huangpu River in Shanghai, China. A vessel in the Huangpu River. A sail boat and junks on the water. Several buildings in view on the shore. Several sail boats in the river. A paddle wheel steam boat on the water. Boats anchored to the shore. Views of the Shanghai Bund along the western bank of the Huangpu River. Several vessels in the river. The Camelback Truss Waibaidu Bridge (world's first all steel bridge) also known as the Garden Bridge, spanning Suzhou Creek at the Huangpu River. Several buildings at the Shanghai Bund in view including the Headquarters of the Shanghai Branch of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (now known as the HSBC Building or the Municipal Government Building) at number 12, The Bund, and the Customs House at number 13, The Bund, and the China Bank of Communications Building at number 14, The Bund. Also the China Merchant Bank Building and the North China Daily News Building (now the AIA building). Other Bund buildings also seen.

Inflation and black marketing in Shanghai, China. Illegal goods transaction in the city. View of harbor. Ships at harbor. Buildings along side of harbor. Men work on the harbor and lift barrels. People on cycle-rickshaws and other vehicles on the street. Men sleep along a side of a street. People buy and sell articles in a market.

Chinese army leaves Shanghai for Manchuria, China. Chinese troops delouse themselves by using Dichloro Diphenyl Trichliroethane (DDT) over each others head and clothes to get ready for re-sailing on U.S. landing crafts. Troops carry equipment and luggage aboard crafts.